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7 Reasons Why Big Data Will Revolutionize The Pharma Industry

Today, the pharma sector is one of the biggest players in the healthcare industry. The
government and drug regulating bodies are encouraging pharma companies when it
comes to R&D. However, the first
step in R&D is obtaining and managing the huge chunks of data. Simply storing tons of data and then fishing through it when something
specific is needed is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The first
step involved in big data management for pharma companies is integration of
data. Better integration means better efficiency.There are several steps that
a pharma company can take to manage big data better, so that maximum benefits
and potentials can be extracted from it.

1. Internal and External
LinkagesDo not treat the pharma R&D sector as a secretive venture. Pharma companies need to collaborate better between internal
and external sources, so as to extend their knowledge and data systems, along
with obtaining end to end integration that starts right from drug research,
development, advertising and delivery.

Improving internal collaboration
requires better linking between different sections of clinical trials. This
helps in gaining insights across the chain, including multiple drug opportunities,
improvisations, etc. External collaboration is between the company and the
stakeholders involved including patients, providers, academic research
professionals, etc. External collaboration can help in several ways, like;
academic research professionals can help share insights regarding the latest
scientific breakthroughs in drug trials and drug effectiveness. A leading
pharma company has taken the initiative wherein external researchers can submit
their compounds for screening and then, the pharma company can decide whether
it is a potential drug compound or not. In this manner, the intellectual
property of the researcher remains intact while the pharma company gets a
firsthand look at potential new drug compounds. Not to mention, collaborating
with customers means gaining a new insight from a user’s perspective.Improving internal and external collaboration is easier said
than done, as this requires high end communications systems and governance. The
company needs to judiciously decide which data can be provided to outsiders and
which is to be held, so that gains and insights such as inputs from research
professionals can be obtained while strategy and developments are not revealed
to competitors.

2. Integrating Data ObtainedThere are three qualities that data must have at all times –
timeliness, accuracy and integrity. Data that is stale and inaccurate is not
only unreliable but also may end up ruining the entire chain of procedures in
the R&D section. Integrating the data obtained at every stage of the value chain,
right from discovery to market release after regulatory approval is extremely
important. Effective integration allows for making an authoritative source of
information, irrespective of the source from where the data has been collected
– external, internal, proprietary or public. Data integrity also allows for
easy accessibility of subsets of data as there are often smart algorithms
included that link certain areas of data. An example of this would be linking
between laboratory and clinical findings, which could create automatic reports
regarding areas such as efficacy and safety of drugs.Hence, to ensure that there is complete integration of data,
one needs various tools such as, trusted sources of information to begin with, the
ability to establish links between sections of the data, workflow management
and secrecy of certain sections of data so that it is visible only to the
select few that are allowed to have access to it. The reason why CRM comes so
handy in this department is that if pharma companies decide to overhaul their
entire data integration system at once, it will lead to logistical problems and
very high costs among other problems. Hence, a two step approach makes more
sense in such cases wherein first, all the data is prioritized to understand
which areas (such as clinical research data) needs additional data storing
capacity on a regular basis so that important data can be obtained immediately
when needed. After this, attention is paid to other aspects of the data such as analytic, ownership areas and various expected costs, projections and
timelines.3. Improve Clinical
Trial EfficiencyClinical trials form the major chunk of pharma R&D which
is why using cutting edge technology in this area of pharma is paramount. Newer
and smarter devices allow for easier data exchange and enable improvement in
clinical trial design and outcomes, thus ensuring better efficiency. Drug
safety features and other red flag raising areas in certain sections of the
population will be far easier to identify once smart devices that highlight
these facts are used.Other improvements that will take place include: Understanding areas which are being ignored
while obtaining population data can be corrected by adapting to differences in
site patient recruitment. This will help find out areas that are lagging behind
and will help to explore newer and more successful sites with better patient
populationsIntegration and updating of medical records by
use of electronic data could help not only keep track of the patient prognosis
but could also become the primary source of clinical trial data. This will
reduce the redundancy of having a separate information system, thus
accelerating the trial rate and reducing the chances for error due to duplicate
entries. This way, remote monitoring of patients could also improve management,
responses and monitoring of issues arising during the trial.Also, re-estimation
of sample sizes could be done so that smaller populations of patients can be
analyzed enabling smaller trials that cost less but offer higher accuracy and
efficiency.4. Making Use of Smarter
DevicesRemote monitoring of patients with the help of sensors and
devices is a huge untapped opportunity for pharma companies. It helps in increasing patient adherence to prescriptions. The advances in
instrumentation when it comes to bio-sensors and various smartphone apps have
become a tool for sophisticated health assessment. Making use of these tools
instead of gathering hoards of data is far more feasible. This data could be
used for R&D, to understand drug impact, efficiency and dangers, devising a
marketing strategy for future sales, etc. Mobile providers are also waking up to these options and are offering
services like data feeds, analysis, tracking of patient prescriptions, etc. Thus,
use of these devices along with infrequent face to face visits with the patient
can decrease health care costs by shortening hospital stays and identifying health
conditions and their prognosis earlier on.5. Don’t Fear but
Embrace TechnologyThe key to successful pharma R&D is to make use of state
of the art technology. Cutting edge tools include sophisticated techniques like
systems biology and high-throughput data production equipment. This is
basically technology that has the ability to produce a lot of data within a
short time span. A good example of this is next generation sequencing with
which within two years, the entire human genome can be sequenced.

Basically,
the huge treasure trove that is big data will help future innovation and will
feed the drug development chain. Analytical skills and know-how need to be top
notch as many steps in pharma R&D, right from cross matching the right and
most effective patient sample groups with the clinical trial requirement, to
bringing the drug to the market, will become more efficient.Using advanced technologies will make
personalized medicine and diagnostics a part of the drug development process
itself, thereby reducing the cost of drug production for pharma companies. Whats more, newer and
improved modifications can be introduced in the drug before it is released into
the market.6. Improve Drug SafetyThe responsibility of the pharma company does not end on
releasing the drug in the market. In fact, this is where the real test starts
because drug effectiveness and word of mouth publicity can make all the
difference. However, drug safety is a major issue and smart pharma companies
can take this facet and use it as a competitive advantage. Nowadays, pharma companies are using dynamic safety monitoring methods. These companies keep an eye on various platforms and
have multiple sources from where they receive information about their drug,
such as online forums, physician communities, electronic medical records, etc. Besides this, the general reputation that the drug holds in the market can
be best estimated from forums and communities, where target customers discuss
real time issues with the drug. Certain analytical methods, such as Bayesian
analytical method can help identify any untoward side effects occurring in the
drug from recorded data with high accuracy and speed.The main reason why this is an important issue for pharma
companies is because besides maintaining their brand name, early response to
negative drug reactions from patients and doctors will also prevent patient
backlash and disciplinary action and blacklisting by FDA. A single drug
blacklisted by the FDA translates into losses that run into millions for pharma
companies. Nowadays, the FDA is investing in evaluation of health records
through the Sentinel Initiative, a legally mandated surveillance system that
links data from multiple sources for accuracy and relevance. In this manner,
the FDA has managed to access and connect data of more than 120 million
patients in the U.S.A.7. Focus on Drug
Effectiveness and OutcomeIt is needless to say that today, one of the most important success factors for
pharma

companies is real world drug outcomes.Consumers and patients are slowly
becoming more aware and are looking for value based pricing options. Pharma
companies should accordingly gather and analyze data so that they can
successfully pursue drugs that can show for such cost-benefit pressures, such
as target drugs with a high success ratio when used for treatment of diseases
wherein they fall under the first line of drugs indicated.